Page 85 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

I bit the inside of my cheek as I forced my expression toremain neutral. I really was. To make matters worse, Kieran had definitely picked up on my increasingly conflicted feelings about Samara.

I thought he would be jealous or upset about it. Instead, he seemedintriguedby the idea of me being with Samara.

I’d heard his comment to Samara when he was leaving about her having a little fun while he was gone. I’d also caught her blushing like crazy when she looked at me.

Samara had always been funny like that. She was obnoxiously bold with her flirting, wasn’t the least bit shy when it came to sex, and had become even more so since returning to House Harker. Yet relatively tame words or suggestions could get her to blush from head to toe.

I wondered what she’d been thinking about when she looked at me and blushed earlier. The bite marks on her and Kieran’s neck had thrown me off, although it made sense. They both trusted each other, and anyone who had eyes knew that they’d been more than a little in love with each other growing up, and with Samara no longer married, there was no reason for them not to be together.

Though, Kieran seemed to think that Samara wanted me too… and that we couldshare.

Fuck. I shifted in my seat as my cock hardened, glad that the table blocked Roth’s view. Was I seriously considering sharing Samara with Kieran? How would that even work?

The Velesians usually had multiple partners in a relationship, but the Moroi were always just a couple. There was also the complication of Samara being the House Harker Heir. Carmilla loved her niece and wouldn’t push for another marriage anytime soon, but it would still be expected of her to marry another high-ranking House member someday.

Neither Kieran nor I qualified as high-ranking. What would Kieran do if he were forced to give her up again?

Shit. What would I do?

This was exactly why it would be foolish for me to get involved with Samara as anything beyond friends. There was no happy ending here, and if I went down this path with Samara, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to let her walk away.

The rational choice was to be friends and nothing more so that I could support Kieran when my friend’s heart was shattered at losing her.

I could do that. I just needed to ignore the throbbing hard cock in my pants.

Something smacked me in the forehead, and I blinked at the balled-up piece of paper before realizing Roth was staring at me expectantly.

“What?”

They sighed and shook their head. “I asked youtwicewhat the deal was with Samara and Vail?”

“Oh.” I pursed my lips.

The history between those two was a bit of a mystery to everyone, and I really didn’t like sharing other people’s business. Definitely not those I considered my friends.

I didn’t know what was going to happen between me and Samara, but I did know that at the very least, things had changed between us enough that I no longer thought of her as an adversary.

Samara trusted Roth, and if Roth asked around, they could uncover at least some information about what had happened that night.

They might as well hear it from me.

“Samara was traveling with her parents to Velesian territory when she was ten years old for some type of diplomatic meeting. Vail’s parents were the previous marshals of House Harker and were in charge of escorting them.

“They brought the best rangers under their command with them, and also brought Vail, who was thirteen at the time,” I explained. “A storm hit that day and slowed their travel downsignificantly. They didn’t make it to the outpost before nightfall and were attacked by wraiths.”

“Her nightmares,” Roth murmured. When I looked at them questioningly, they just shook their head and waved for me to carry on.

I swallowed. “Only Samara and Vail truly know what happened next because they were the only ones who survived.” I could still remember what they both looked like that day when the rangers had brought them home.

Samara had been so broken, her eyes red and puffy from crying, and there was such a defeated look to her. Vail had been silent, his rage practically scorching the air around him. He’d learned how to harness that anger over the years, but it still burned.

I added, “Both of them were questioned about the attack after they were found, and I’ve read the reports. Samara didn’t see much, but Vail claimed that there were over a dozen wraiths that attacked the caravan, along with several other monsters.”

“Is it normal for that many wraiths to attack at once? And with other monsters?” Roth asked, suspicion brewing in their eyes.

“No.” I shook my head. That part of the story had always bothered me too. “That information concerned everyone, and many claimed that Vail simply misremembered what happened. He was only a young boy, and he’d been traumatized. His parents and Samara’s were mauled in front of him, along with the rest of the rangers.”

“No wonder he is the way he is.” Roth’s eyebrows stretched to their hairline, their words marred with sympathy.

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